After a week off, the Lakers will return to the court for preseason action on Sunday evening when they host the Warriors for the second time. The Lakers dropped their opening two exhibition games while
Golden State has won both of its preseason contests.
Start time and TV schedule
Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors
When: 6:30 p.m. PT, Oct. 12
Where: Crypto.com Center
Watch:
Spectrum SportsnetThe Lakers’ odd schedule this preseason means they’ve had as many weeks of practice as they’ve had games so far. On one hand, that’s let them install quite a bit on the court. On the other hand, especially considering how many notable players didn’t play in their first two preseason games, there’s a lot of mystery about where the team is.
Sunday will be the beginning of getting some answers. The purple and gold will play four times this week, including a back-to-back as part of three games in four days. It’s an odd choice for an exhibition slate but it will certainly get them prepared for the regular season.
There’s a small silver lining in having so many games to play as it will give the team time on the court to get reps without LeBron James. With news of his injury coming out this week, the Lakers will be without LeBron for multiple weeks at a minimum.
Fortunately, they’ll be with Luka Dončić still, who will likely start seeing time on the floor in the upcoming preseason games. A heavier load will fall on Luka and Austin Reaves, who will need to figure out how to play with one another to help the Lakers win games early on.
That should begin this week with the Lakers playing four times before the start of the regular season. It’ll also be interesting to see if there are any new wrinkles added by head coach JJ Redick and the staff. With the better part of two weeks of practice, the hope would be that the team has plenty to work with from a playbook standpoint.
But overall, it’ll be nice to just see the Lakers back on the court with regularity. Even if the stars don’t play on Sunday — and they probably should — they’ll see the court soon as the Lakers will finally start kicking into gear with the regular season nearing.
Notes and Updates
- There won’t be an injury report in this one, as is the case with all preseason games, but LeBron James obviously won’t be playing. After practice on Saturday, Redick did provide some updates in that Luka Dončić is a game-time decision, Austin Reaves and Marcus Smart will play and Maxi Kleber and Adou Thiero remain out.
- The Warriors again had their full rotation available in Wednesday’s game against the Blazers. Not surprisingly, they will be resting players on Sunday as Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler will not play.
- After Sunday’s game, the Lakers will travel to Phoenix on Tuesday, Las Vegas on Wednesday and then return to LA on Friday.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
